Hinge assemblies swingably mount a closure such as a deck lid or hood relative to an opening in a vehicle between opened and closed positions. Known hinge assemblies include hinge boxes which are mounted to a part of the vehicle body, such as an inner shelf panel, horizontally disposed hinge pivot pins carried by the hinge boxes, and hinge straps having one end mounted to the deck lid and the other end pivotally connected to the hinge pins. The deck lid and the hinge straps pivot on a pivot axis defined by the hinge pins.
Known hinge assemblies further include an adjustment mechanism to adjust the deck lid side-to-side (horizontally) between the quarter panels and fore-and-aft of the quarter panels to properly position the deck lid relative to the deck lid opening of the vehicle. For instance, oversized or slotted holes in the deck lid or in the ends of the hinge straps mounted to the deck lid enable the deck lid to be shifted relative to the hinge straps. Once the deck lid is shifted to the proper position, fasteners extending through the holes which mount the hinge straps to the deck lid are tightened. Oversized holes in the inner shelf panel also allow horizontal and fore-and-aft adjustment of the deck lid by allowing movement of the hinge boxes prior to being fastened to the inner shelf panel.
In addition to horizontal and fore-and-aft adjustment, vertical adjustment is also needed to effect proper alignment and flushness of the deck lid with the quarter panels. Adjustable deck lid hinge assemblies which provide for vertical and fore-and-aft adjustment of the deck lid are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,158,333, 4,893,863 and others.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,158,333 and 4,893,863 disclose adjustable deck lid hinge assemblies which provide vertical translation of a hinge strap relative to the inner shelf panel of the vehicle. Accordingly, the forward portion of the deck lid mounted to the vehicle by such hinge assemblies can be vertically adjusted to flushly mate with the quarter panels of the vehicle.
A serious disadvantage associated with such patents is that when the pivot axis of the straps is only adjusted vertically, the deck lid and the deck lid latch at the rear of the deck lid move fore-and-aft relative to the deck lid striker and this can cause a failure of the latching action unless either the hinge straps are adjusted relative to the deck lid or the vertical position of the deck lid latch or the hinge boxes are adjusted fore-and-aft.
This fore-and-aft movement of the deck lid upon vertical adjustment of the pivot axis makes alignment of the deck lid difficult. Moving the hinge boxes or the hinge straps relative to either the deck lid or the deck lid latch after vertically adjusting the hinge assemblies are extra steps which take too much time and effort. In the high volume production environment in which the present invention is useful, extra steps are not trivial.